ISLAMABAD: For a brief moment this summer, Cristiano Ronaldo seemed to be on the verge of ending his illustrious soccer career. The 40-year-old superstar forward’s contract was expiring at Al Nassr, the Saudi Pro League club he had joined in 2023, and he had just led Portugal to victory in the UEFA Nations League tournament, offering him an opportunity to hang up his boots on a high note. But Ronaldo quickly dispelled the retirement speculation and re-upped with Al Nassr on a two-year deal, Forbes reported.
The money doesn’t hurt, either. Forbes estimates Ronaldo will earn $230 million from Al Nassr during the 2025-26 season, a sum that is believed to incorporate financial incentives from commercial agreements facilitated by his club, in addition to his playing wages. Factor in the $50 million he will collect off the field from partners including Nike, Binance and Herbalife, and Portugal’s favorite son is slated to pull in $280 million in total earnings over the coming year before taxes and agents’ fees.
That astonishing figure, which is roughly in line with Forbes’ projection for Ronaldo for the 2024-25 season, gives him the top spot among the world’s highest-paid soccer players for the sixth time in the last decade.
Ronaldo’s sky-high total also puts a fair amount of distance between him and his longtime rival Lionel Messi of Inter Miami, who ranks No. 2 among the sport’s top earners at $130 million in projected total income.
Combined, the world’s ten highest-paid soccer players are set to earn an estimated $945 million during the 2025-26 campaign, with the cutoff for inclusion on the list rising to the $43 million total of Barcelona’s teenage sensation Lamine Yamal, up from Kevin De Bruyne’s $39 million at Manchester City last season.
Karim Benzema nabs the No. 3 spot with $104 million in projected total earnings as he plays out the final year of his contract with Al Ittihad in Saudi Arabia, and Real Madrid’s Kylian Mbappé (an estimated $95 million) comes in at No. 4. Rounding out the top five is Erling Haaland, who signed a nine-and-a-half-year extension with Manchester City in January amid another dominant season that featured 22 goals in 31 Premier League games. His new deal pushes his estimated salary and expected bonuses to $60 million in 2025-26, on top of his off-field income of $20 million.
Vinicius Jr. returns to the list at No. 6 with expected total earnings of $60 million, but the 25-year-old forward, who was the youngest player in last year’s ranking, can no longer claim that distinction. His Real Madrid teammate Jude Bellingham, No. 9 this year with an estimated $44 million, is just 22, but even he is older than Barcelona’s Yamal, the first 18-year-old to crack the top ten in the 22-year history of Forbes’ soccer list.
Those two newcomers give Spain’s La Liga the edge as the ranking’s best-represented league, with four players qualifying for the list. The Saudi Pro League follows with three players—Ronaldo, Benzema and Al Nassr’s Sadio Mané (No. 8, $54 million)—and the Premier League has two, between Haaland and Liverpool’s Mohamed Salah (No. 7, $55 million). Messi remains the lone representative of MLS. Five of the ten highest-paid footballers are 29 or younger—the largest share of the ranking since 2020—and the average age of the list has ticked down just below 30, the lowest it has been in five years.
Ronaldo may still lead the financial table, but the youngsters are looking ready for promotion.
